WASHINGTON (WHTC-AM/FM) – Pete Hoekstra is going “home.”
The appointment in June by President Trump of the nine-term US House Representative as the new American ambassador to the Netherlands was approved on a voice vote by the US Senate on Thursday. The one-time House Intelligence Committee Chairman had been out of politics since leaving Congress in 2010 for a failed Republican run for Michigan Governor, and lost two years later to incumbent US Senator Debbie Stabenow. Ironically, the Lansing Democrat Stabenow introduced Hoekstra’s ambassadoral appointment before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in September, and both she and fellow Democratic Senator Gary Peters of suburban Detroit publicly supported Hoekstra prior to the confirmation vote.
Hoekstra was been an adviser in international affairs for a couple of Washington private concerns and had authored a book two years ago, “Architects of Disaster: The Destruction of Libya” that was critical of the Obama Administration’s handling of the end of the Muammar Qadaffi regime. He had supported Ohio Governor John Kasich in the 2016 Michigan Presidential Primary, joined the Trump camapign for the General Election, serving as one of the state’s co-chairs.
A native of the Netherlands who emigrated to the United States with his parents at the age of three, Hoekstra graduated from Hope College and spent 15 years with Zeeland-based office furniture maker Herman Miller before ousting long-time Congressman Guy Vander Jagt in the 1992 Republican primary.
In a statement, current House Representative Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland), who succeeded Hoekstra in the Lower Chamber, said, “Congratulations to my friend and mentor Pete Hoekstra on being confirmed to serve as Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. West Michigan and our nation will be well represented with Ambassador Hoekstra working to strengthen the historic economic and cultural ties between the United States and the Netherlands.”
Fellow Republican Congressman Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph), in a Twitter post, said, “Congrats to my friend (Pete Hoekstra)! You will do an outstanding job representing our country!”
